D&B survey finds small businesses optimistic about 1996; biggest issues are finding qualified employees and handling insurance costs.MURRAY HILL Murray Hill may refer to one of the following places:
n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op about the prospects for their companies over the next 12 months, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Dun & Bradstreet Brad·street , Anne Dudley 1612-1672. English-born colonial poet who wrote several collections of verse, including The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650). Information Services See Information Systems. annual survey of small businesses. More than half of the small business owners surveyed expect increases in revenues, profits and number of customers. Nearly 60 percent say that over the next year their number of customers will grow, as will their revenues. Fifty-three percent say their profits will also grow. "For the second year in a row, small business owners have reported good news," says William William, crown prince of Germany William or Frederick William, 1882–1951, crown prince of Germany, son of William II. In World War I he commanded (1914) an army on the Western Front and was nominal commander in the German attack F. Doescher, senior vice president at Dun & Bradstreet Information Services. "This positive trend in small-business optimism is significant and comes at an important time in the business cycle when several indicators point to a slowing economy." The survey reveals that small business owners are managing their debt well. One-quarter say they have no company debt, while one-third (34 percent) expect their amount of debt to stay the same and 28 percent expect to reduce it. Other good news is that 34 percent of small business owners have no uncollected debt. And nearly half (46 percent) of those who do have uncollected debt expect it to stay the same, while 16 percent expect to reduce it. Advertising, marketing, equipment, products or services and computers are the areas where small businesses are most likely to make a significant investment this year. Two-fifths of small businesses outsource at least one function. Of those who outsource, accounting and tax preparation are at the top of their list with payroll a distant second. A vast majority anticipate that their level of outsourcing (1) Contracting with outside consultants, software houses or service bureaus to perform systems analysis, programming and datacenter operations. Contrast with insourcing. See netsourcing, ASP, SSP and facilities management. will remain the same during this year, while 10 percent expect their outsourcing to increase. The survey also shows that two major problems facing small business owners are finding qualified employees and handling increased insurance costs. More than half (56 percent) of the small business owners surveyed say they cannot find enough skilled workers to meet all their needs. And less than half (40 percent) say they provide healthcare benefits to some employees, with half (52 percent) of those small businesses experiencing premium increases averaging 15 percent during 1995. Less than half (44 percent) say they are assuming all the extra increased costs. "Only 19 percent of small business owners surveyed say they provide retirement benefits to employees," says Doescher. "This could be a major problem over the long term since small business has accounted for most of the country's job creation and employment in recent years." The telephone survey questioned 250 small business owners -- including 104 women-owned businesses and 25 minority-owned businesses -- in late December December: see month. and early January January: see month. from all major industries throughout the U.S. about their views on business expectations, issues and problems, benefits, technology, outsourcing and financing. The majority of small business owners contacted have fewer than 10 full-time employees, operate in only one location, and generate less than $500,000 in revenue. Forty-two percent have a woman-owner and 10 percent are minority owned. Very few of the small businesses surveyed are involved in exporting or importing. Other Issues and Problems Other problems indicated in the survey were how small business performed against the economy (37 percent), kept up with technology (33 percent), managed cash flow (33 percent), met federal regulations (31 percent), found customers (31 percent), met state regulations (29 percent) and increased domestic competition (29 percent). Nearly half say that government regulations make it more difficult to do business, with 41 percent saying the problem is at the federal level and 33 percent saying it's at the state level. Benefits Nearly all small businesses with 10 or more employees provide benefits. And among all the companies providing healthcare benefits, 63 percent provide them to all their full-time employees. Of the 19 percent of small businesses that provide retirement benefits, the majority (67 percent) provide them to all full-time employees. Only 3 percent of small business owners say they provide employees with child care assistance, such as telecommuting telecommuting, an arrangement by which people work at home using a computer and telephone, transmitting work material to a business office by means of a modem and telephone lines; it is also known as telework. , flexible scheduling, on-site daycare and job sharing job sharing Noun an arrangement by which a job is shared by two part-time workers job sharing job n → Jobsharing nt, Arbeitsplatzteilung f . Technology On the subject of technology, 62 percent of small businesses say they have a personal computer, 28 percent with modems, and at least half have a fax machine and/or cellular phone. Only one-fifth of those businesses with computers say they subscribe to Verb 1. subscribe to - receive or obtain regularly; "We take the Times every day" subscribe, take buy, purchase - obtain by purchase; acquire by means of a financial transaction; "The family purchased a new car"; "The conglomerate acquired a new company"; online services, with almost half using America Online See AOL. . Approximately half of small business owners say that their fax machines and computers are the two technologies that have affected their businesses the most. Nearly three-quarters (72 percent) believe technology, in general, helps them provide high quality customer service. Among the small businesses without computers, 20 percent expect to get one in 1996. Financing Only one-third of small business owners say they borrowed money in 1995. The major sources for that financing were credit cards, followed by commercial bank loans, personal loans and trade credit. Minority-owned small businesses differed slightly, with the majority relying on personal loans more than other types of financing. Fifteen percent of all small business owners say they have had trouble borrowing funds. Minority and Women Small Business Owners Minority business owners are anticipating more change than are all small busines owners. And minority business owners are more likely to make significant investments in their business in 1996, particularly in marketing, products and services, employees and computers. Responses from women small business owners closely mirror the responses from the overall small business population. This survey has a margin of error of plus or minus seven percent. For more information or a copy of the survey results, please call 908/665-5105. Dun & Bradstreet Information Services, North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , is a company of The Dun & Bradstreet Corp., the world's leading marketer of information, software and services for business decision making, with 1995 revenues of $5.4 billion. -0- Editor's Note Editor's Note (foaled in 1993 in Kentucky) is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Champion 2 YO Colt Forty Niner, who in turn was a son of Champion sire Mr. Prospector and out of the mare, Beware Of The Cat. Trained by D. : D&B press releases are available on the Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the via the Dun & Bradstreet Information Services World Wide Web home page (http://www.dbisna.com). CONTACT: Dun & Bradstreet Information Services Pamela Spiridon, 908/665-5105 spiridonp@dbisna.com |
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